Validation of data for targeting users across multiple communication devices accessed by the same user

ABSTRACT

A system for validating user identifications is configured to perform the steps of: (a) receiving at a data management platform a plurality of first user identifications associated with a first communication device accessed by a first user, wherein the data management platform includes data relating to the first user; (b) receiving at the data management platform a plurality of second user identifications associated with a second communication device accessed by a second user; and (c) determining at the data management platform via a predetermined number of the plurality of receipts of the first and second user identifications that the first user accessing the first communication device is the second user accessing the second communication device.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Pat. App. No.61/558,522 filed Nov. 11, 2011, and titled “Targeted Advertising Acrossa Plurality of Mobile and Non-Mobile Communication Facilities AccessedBy the Same User,” U.S. Provisional Pat. App. No. 61/569,217 filed Dec.9, 2011, and titled “Targeted Advertising Across Web Activities On anMCF and Applications Operating Thereon,” U.S. Provisional Pat. App. No.61/576,963 filed Dec. 16, 2011, and titled “Targeted Advertising toMobile Communication Facilities,” and U.S. Provisional Pat. App. No.61/652,834 filed May 29, 2012, and titled “Validity of Data forTargeting Advertising Across a Plurality of Mobile and Non-MobileCommunication Facilities Accessed By the Same User,” the contents ofwhich are incorporated herein by reference.

This application also incorporates herein by reference the content ofeach of the following applications: U.S. application Ser. No.13/666,690, filed on Nov. 1, 2012 and entitled “Identifying a Same Userof Multiple Communication Devices Based on Web Page Visits”; and U.S.application Ser. No. 13/018,952 filed on Feb. 1, 2011, which is anon-provisional of App. No. 61/300,333 filed on Feb. 1, 2010 andentitled “INTEGRATED ADVERTISING SYSTEM,” and which is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/537,814 filed onAug. 7, 2009 and entitled “CONTEXTUAL TARGETING OF CONTENT USING AMONETIZATION PLATFORM,” which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.No. 12/486,502 filed on Jun. 17, 2009 and entitled “USING MOBILECOMMUNICATION FACILITY DEVICE DATA WITHIN A MONETIZATION PLATFORM,”which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/485,787 filed onJun. 16, 1009 and entitled “MANAGEMENT OF MULTIPLE ADVERTISINGINVENTORIES USING A MONETIZATION PLATFORM,” which is a continuation ofU.S. application Ser. No. 12/400,199 filed on Mar. 9, 2009 and entitled“USING MOBILE APPLICATION DATA WITHIN A MONETIZATION PLATFORM,” which isa continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/400,185 filed on Mar. 9,2009 and entitled “REVENUE MODELS ASSOCIATED WITH SYNDICATION OF ABEHAVIORAL PROFILE USING A MONETIZATION PLATFORM,” which is acontinuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/400,166 filed on Mar. 9,2009 and entitled “SYNDICATION OF A BEHAVIORAL PROFILE USING AMONETIZATION PLATFORM,” which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.No. 12/400,153 filed on Mar. 9, 2009 and entitled “SYNDICATION OF ABEHAVIORAL PROFILE ASSOCIATED WITH AN AVAILABILITY CONDITION USING AMONETIZATION PLATFORM,” which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.No. 12/400,138 filed on Mar. 9, 2009 and entitled “AGGREGATION ANDENRICHMENT OF BEHAVIORAL PROFILE DATA USING A MONETIZATION PLATFORM,”which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/400,096 filed onMar. 9, 2009 and entitled “AGGREGATION OF BEHAVIORAL PROFILE DATA USINGA MONETIZATION PLATFORM,” which is a non-provisional of App. No.61/052,024 filed on May 9, 2008 and entitled “MONETIZATION PLATFORM” andApp. No. 61/037,617 filed on Mar. 18, 2008 and entitled “PRESENTINGCONTENT TO A MOBILE COMMUNICATION FACILITY BASED ON CONTEXTUAL ANDBEHAVIORIAL DATA RELATING TO A PORTION OF A MOBILE CONTENT,” and whichis a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/929,328 filedon Oct. 30, 2007 and entitled “CATEGORIZATION OF A MOBILE USER PROFILEBASED ON BROWSE BEHAVIOR,” which is a continuation-in-part of U.S.application Ser. No. 11/929,308 filed on Oct. 30, 2007 and entitled“MOBILE DYNAMIC ADVERTISEMENT CREATION AND PLACEMENT,” which is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/929,297 filed onOct. 30, 2007 and entitled “MOBILE COMMUNICATION FACILITY USAGE ANDSOCIAL NETWORK CREATION”, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S.application Ser. No. 11/929,272 filed on Oct. 30, 2007 and entitled“INTEGRATING SUBSCRIPTION CONTENT INTO MOBILE SEARCH RESULTS,” which isa continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/929,253 filed onOct. 30, 2007 and entitled “COMBINING MOBILE AND TRANSCODED CONTENT IN AMOBILE SEARCH RESULT,” which is a continuation-in-part of U.S.application Ser. No. 11/929,171 filed on Oct. 30, 2007 and entitled“ASSOCIATING MOBILE AND NONMOBILE WEB CONTENT,” which is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/929,148 filed onOct. 30, 2007 and entitled “METHODS AND SYSTEMS OF MOBILE QUERYCLASSIFICATION,” which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. applicationSer. No. 11/929,129 filed on Oct. 30, 2007 and entitled “MOBILE USERPROFILE CREATION BASED ON USER BROWSE BEHAVIORS,” which is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/929,105 filed onOct. 30, 2007 and entitled “METHODS AND SYSTEMS OF MOBILE DYNAMICCONTENT PRESENTATION,” which is a continuation-in-part of U.S.application Ser. No. 11/929,096 filed on Oct. 30, 2007 and entitled“METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR MOBILE COUPON TRACKING,” which is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/929,081 filed onOct. 30, 2007 and entitled “REALTIME SURVEYING WITHIN MOBILE SPONSOREDCONTENT,” which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No.11/929,059 filed on Oct. 30, 2007 and entitled “METHODS AND SYSTEMS FORMOBILE COUPON PLACEMENT,” which is a continuation-in-part of U.S.application Ser. No. 11/929,039 filed on Oct. 30, 2007 and entitled“USING A MOBILE COMMUNICATION FACILITY FOR OFFLINE AD SEARCHING,” whichis a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/929,016 filedon Oct. 30, 2007 and entitled “LOCATION BASED MOBILE SHOPPING AFFINITYPROGRAM,” which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No.11/928,990 filed on Oct. 30, 2007 and entitled “INTERACTIVE MOBILEADVERTISEMENT BANNERS,” which is a continuation-in-part of U.S.application Ser. No. 11/928,960 filed on Oct. 30, 2007 and entitled“IDLE SCREEN ADVERTISING,” which is a continuation-in-part of U.S.application Ser. No. 11/928,937 filed on Oct. 30, 2007 and entitled“EXCLUSIVITY BIDDING FOR MOBILE SPONSORED CONTENT,” which is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/928,909 filed onOct. 30, 2007 and entitled “EMBEDDING A NONSPONSORED MOBILE CONTENTWITHIN A SPONSORED MOBILE CONTENT,” which is a continuation-in-part ofU.S. application Ser. No. 11/928,877 filed on Oct. 30, 2007 and entitled“USING WIRELESS CARRIER DATA TO INFLUENCE MOBILE SEARCH RESULTS,” whichis a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/928,847 filedon Oct. 30, 2007 and entitled “SIMILARITY BASED LOCATION MAPPING OFMOBILE COMMUNICATION FACILITY USERS,” which is a continuation-in-part ofU.S. application Ser. No. 11/928,819 filed on Oct. 30, 2007 and entitled“TARGETING MOBILE SPONSORED CONTENT WITHIN A SOCIAL NETWORK,” which is anon-provisional of U.S. App. No. 60/946,132 filed on Jun. 25, 2007 andentitled “BUSINESS STREAM: EXPLORING NEW ADVERTISING OPPORTUNITIES ANDAD FORMATS,” and U.S. App. No. 60/968,188 filed on Aug. 27, 2007 andentitled “MOBILE CONTENT SEARCH” and a continuation-in-part of U.S.application Ser. No. 11/553,746 filed on Oct. 27, 2006 and entitled“COMBINED ALGORITHMIC AND EDITORIAL-REVIEWED MOBILE CONTENT SEARCHRESULTS,” which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.11/553,713 filed on Oct. 27, 2006 and entitled “ON-OFF HANDSET SEARCHBOX,” which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/553,659filed on Oct. 27, 2006 and entitled “CLIENT LIBRARIES FOR MOBILECONTENT,” which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.11/553,569 filed on Oct. 27, 2006 and entitled “ACTION FUNCTIONALITY FORMOBILE CONTENT SEARCH RESULTS,” which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 11/553,626 filed on Oct. 27, 2006 and entitled“MOBILE WEBSITE ANALYZER,” which is a continuation of U.S. applicationSer. No. 11/553,598 filed on Oct. 27, 2006 and entitled “MOBILE PAY PERCALL,” which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/553,587filed on Oct. 27, 2006 and entitled “MOBILE CONTENT CROSS-INVENTORYYIELD OPTIMIZATION,” which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.No. 11/553,581 filed on Oct. 27, 2006 and entitled “MOBILE PAYMENTFACILITATION,” which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.11/553,578 filed on Oct. 27, 2006 and entitled “BEHAVIORAL-BASED MOBILECONTENT PLACEMENT ON A MOBILE COMMUNICATION FACILITY,” which is acontinuation application of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/553,567 filedon Oct. 27, 2006 and entitled “CONTEXTUAL MOBILE CONTENT PLACEMENT ON AMOBILE COMMUNICATION FACILITY”, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S.application Ser. No. 11/422,797 filed on Jun. 7, 2006 and entitled“PREDICTIVE TEXT COMPLETION FOR A MOBILE COMMUNICATION FACILITY”, whichis a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/383,236 filedon May 15, 2006 and entitled “LOCATION BASED PRESENTATION OF MOBILECONTENT”, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No.11/382,696 filed on May 10, 2006 and entitled “MOBILE SEARCH SERVICESRELATED TO DIRECT IDENTIFIERS”, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S.application Ser. No. 11/382,262 filed on May 8, 2006 and entitled“INCREASING MOBILE INTERACTIVITY”, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 11/382,260 filed on May 8, 2006 and entitled“AUTHORIZED MOBILE CONTENT SEARCH RESULTS”, which is a continuation ofU.S. application Ser. No. 11/382,257 filed on May 8, 2006 and entitled“MOBILE SEARCH SUGGESTIONS”, which is a continuation of U.S. applicationSer. No. 11/382,249 filed on May 8, 2006 and entitled “MOBILEPAY-PER-CALL CAMPAIGN CREATION”, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 11/382,246 filed on May 8, 2006 and entitled“CREATION OF A MOBILE SEARCH SUGGESTION DICTIONARY”, which is acontinuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/382,243 filed on May 8,2006 and entitled “MOBILE CONTENT SPIDERING AND COMPATIBILITYDETERMINATION”, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.11/382,237 filed on May 8, 2006 and entitled “IMPLICIT SEARCHING FORMOBILE CONTENT,” which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.11/382,226 filed on May 8, 2006 and entitled “MOBILE SEARCH SUBSTRINGQUERY COMPLETION”, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. applicationSer. No. 11/414,740 filed on Apr. 27, 2006 and entitled “EXPECTED VALUEAND PRIORITIZATION OF MOBILE CONTENT,” which is a continuation of U.S.applicatio Ser. No. 11/414,168 filed on Apr. 27, 2006 and entitled“DYNAMIC BIDDING AND EXPECTED VALUE,” which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 11/413,273 filed on Apr. 27, 2006 and entitled“CALCULATION AND PRESENTATION OF MOBILE CONTENT EXPECTED VALUE,” whichis a non-provisional of U.S. App. No. 60/785,242 filed on Mar. 22, 2006and entitled “AUTOMATED SYNDICATION OF MOBILE CONTENT” and which is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/387,147 filed onMar. 21, 2006 and entitled “INTERACTION ANALYSIS AND PRIORITIZATION OFMOBILE CONTENT,” which is continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser.No. 11/355,915 filed on Feb. 16, 2006 and entitled “PRESENTATION OFSPONSORED CONTENT BASED ON MOBILE TRANSACTION EVENT,” which is acontinuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/347,842 filed on Feb. 3,2006 and entitled “MULTIMODAL SEARCH QUERY,” which is a continuation ofU.S. application Ser. No. 11/347,825 filed on Feb. 3, 2006 and entitled“SEARCH QUERY ADDRESS REDIRECTION ON A MOBILE COMMUNICATION FACILITY,”which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/347,826 filed onFeb. 3, 2006 and entitled “PREVENTING MOBILE COMMUNICATION FACILITYCLICK FRAUD,” which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.11/337,112 filed on Jan. 19, 2006 and entitled “USER TRANSACTION HISTORYINFLUENCED SEARCH RESULTS,” which is a continuation of U.S. applicationSer. No. 11/337,180 filed on Jan. 19, 2006 and entitled “USERCHARACTERISTIC INFLUENCED SEARCH RESULTS,” which is a continuation ofU.S. application Ser. No. 11/336,432 filed on Jan. 19, 2006 and entitled“USER HISTORY INFLUENCED SEARCH RESULTS,” which is a continuation ofU.S. application Ser. No. 11/337,234 filed on Jan. 19, 2006 and entitled“MOBILE COMMUNICATION FACILITY CHARACTERISTIC INFLUENCED SEARCHRESULTS,” which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.11/337,233 filed on Jan. 19, 2006 and entitled “LOCATION INFLUENCEDSEARCH RESULTS,” which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.11/335,904 filed on Jan. 19, 2006 and entitled “PRESENTING SPONSOREDCONTENT ON A MOBILE COMMUNICATION FACILITY,” which is a continuation ofU.S. application Ser. No. 11/335,900 filed on Jan. 18, 2006 and entitled“MOBILE ADVERTISEMENT SYNDICATION,” which is a continuation-in-part ofU.S. application Ser. No. 11/281,902 filed on Nov. 16, 2005 and entitled“MANAGING SPONSORED CONTENT BASED ON USER CHARACTERISTICS,” which is acontinuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/282,120 filed on Nov. 16,2005 and entitled “MANAGING SPONSORED CONTENT BASED ON USAGE HISTORY”,which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/274,884 filed onNov. 14, 2005 and entitled “MANAGING SPONSORED CONTENT BASED ONTRANSACTION HISTORY”, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.No. 11/274,905 filed on Nov. 14, 2005 and entitled “MANAGING SPONSOREDCONTENT BASED ON GEOGRAPHIC REGION”, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 11/274,933 filed on Nov. 14, 2005 and entitled“PRESENTATION OF SPONSORED CONTENT ON MOBILE COMMUNICATION FACILITIES”,which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/271,164 filed onNov. 11, 2005 and entitled “MANAGING SPONSORED CONTENT BASED ON DEVICECHARACTERISTICS”, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.11/268,671 filed on Nov. 5, 2005 and entitled “MANAGING PAYMENT FORSPONSORED CONTENT PRESENTED TO MOBILE COMMUNICATION FACILITIES”, andwhich is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/267,940 filed onNov. 5, 2005 and entitled “MANAGING SPONSORED CONTENT FOR DELIVERY TOMOBILE COMMUNICATION FACILITIES,” which is a non-provisional of U.S.App. No. 60/731,991 filed on Nov. 1, 2005 and entitled “MOBILE SEARCH”,U.S. App. No. 60/720,193 filed on Sep. 23, 2005 and entitled “MANAGINGWEB INTERACTIONS ON A MOBILE COMMUNICATION FACILITY”, and U.S. App. No.60/717,151 filed on Sep. 14, 2005 and entitled “SEARCH CAPABILITIES FORMOBILE COMMUNICATIONS DEVICES”.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to targeting advertising to mobile andnon-mobile communication facilities accessed by the same user and, moreparticularly, to the validation of a plurality of user identificationsfrom a plurality of such mobile and non-mobile communication facilities.

2. Description of Related Art

Web-based search engines, readily available information, andentertainment mediums, have proven to be one of the most significantuses of computer networks such as the Internet. As online use increases,users seek more and more ways to access the Internet. Users haveprogressed from desktop and laptop computers to cellular phones andsmartphones for work and personal use in an online context. Now, usersare accessing the Internet not only from a single device, but from theirtelevisions and gaming devices, and most recently, from tablet devices.Internet-based advertising techniques are currently unable to optimallytarget and deliver content, such as advertisements, for a mobilecommunication facility (e.g., smartphone, tablet device, etc.) becausethe prior art techniques are specifically designed for the Internet in anon-mobile device context. These prior art techniques fail to takeadvantage of unique data assets derived from telecommunications andfixed mobile convergence networks, or how to verify that the datareceived all relates back to a single user. As it becomes commonplacefor a user to interchangeably access the Internet via his smartphone,tablet, PC, and television, there is no efficient way to optimallytarget that same user across all the devices he may use and no vary toensure the data is accurate. Therefore, a need exists for a systemassociated with telecommunications networks and fixed mobile convergenceapplications that is enabled to select and target advertising contentreadable by a plurality of mobile and non-mobile communicationfacilities and that is available from across a number of advertisinginventories. Along with this need, it is desirable to validate useridentifications received from the plurality of mobile and non-mobilecommunications accessed by the same user.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention includes a system for validating useridentifications received from a plurality of mobile and non-mobilecommunications accessed by the same user, to ensure it is the same userwhen a new identification appears.

The present invention includes a system for validating useridentifications, the system including one or more computers havingcomputer readable mediums having stored thereon instructions which, whenexecuted by one or more processors of the one or more computers, causesthe system to perform the steps of: (a) receiving at a data managementplatform a plurality of first user identifications associated with afirst communication device accessed by a first user, wherein the datamanagement platform includes data relating to the first user; (b)receiving at the data management platform a plurality of second useridentifications associated with a second communication device accessedby a second user; and (c) determining at the data management platformvia a predetermined number of the plurality of receipts of the first andsecond user identifications that the first user accessing the firstcommunication device is the second user accessing the secondcommunication device.

The first or second user identification may be received from: (a) acarrier providing service to the first and second communication devices;(b) a webpage publisher; (c) an application provider; (d) a user log-in;or (e) a third party. The first or second user identification may be:(a) a hashed email address; (b) a log-in; (c) a username; (d) a dataprovider identification; (e) a matchkey; (f) a carrier identification;and (g) an Internet protocol.

The system may be further configured to perform the step of transmittingan advertising content to the second communication device, whereinselection of the advertising content is based at least on a relevancythereof to the plurality of first user identifications. The relevancymay be further based on a user characteristic datum associated with theuser, including, but not limited to one or more of: (a) age, age-range,or birthdate; (b) gender; (c) race; (d) religion; (e) marital status;(f) area code of the phone number assigned to one of the first andsecond communication devices; (g) zip code; (h) home address; (i) workaddress; (j) billing address; (k) type of credit card used to pay acarrier providing service to the communication device; (l) birthplace;(m) employer; (n) employment position; (o) income bracket of the user;(p) model of one of the first and second communication devices; and (q)operating system of one of the first and second communication devices.

The user characteristic datum may be one or more of: (a) a payment andbilling history associated with the user; (b) a duration of onlineinteractions by the user associated with his respective communicationdevices; (c) a number of online interactions by the user via hisrespective communication devices; (d) a usage pattern of the respectivecommunication devices dependent on location or time of day use thereof;(e) a type of content accessed by the user via his respectivecommunication devices; (f) previous search queries entered by the uservia his respective communication devices; (g) shopping habits associatedwith the user; (h) videos, music, or audio listened to or downloaded bythe user; (i) previous geographies associated with the user; and (j) webpages visited or applications used by the user via his respectivecommunication devices. The shopping habits may be at least one of: (a)products viewed or purchased on one of the first and secondcommunication devices; (b) purchase amounts of the products purchased onone of the first and second communication devices; (c) purchase dates ofthe products purchased on one of the first and second communicationdevices; and (d) elapsed time between a product viewing and a productpurchase on one of the first and second communication devices.

In embodiments, the communication device may be mobile or non-mobile, aphone, a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smartphone, a tablet PC, alaptop computer, a desktop (personal) computer, a television, cable box,a PDA, a portable media (music and/or video) player, or a gamingconsole. However, the list should not be construed as limiting theinvention in any manner.

These and other features and characteristics of the present invention,as well as the methods of operation and functions of the relatedelements of structures and the combination of parts and economies ofmanufacture, will become more apparent upon consideration of thefollowing description and the appended claims with reference to theaccompanying drawings, all of which form a part of this specification,wherein like reference numerals designate corresponding parts in thevarious figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a system for receiving a plurality ofuser identifications at a data platform; and

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating the steps of a current embodiment inaccordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention disclosed herein relates to the domain of mobilecommunication facilities and non-mobile communication facilitiesaccessed by the same user and to the domain of fulfilling advertisingrequests with targeted content across the various devices from variousadvertising inventories.

FIG. 1 depicts a wireless platform 100 for determining the validity ofuser identifications. The wireless platform 100 includes a first device101, a second device 102, a server 105, and a receipt database 110.Although the first device 101 and the second device 102 communicate withserver 105 and receipt database 110 through the Internet in thisparticular embodiment, other methods of communication are desirable.Additionally, the server 105 and receipt database 110 may be centrallylocated or geographically dispersed, locally and/or remotelyinterconnected, and may be integrated into a combined system.

In embodiments, the first device 101 and second device 102 may be mobileor non-mobile, mobile phones, cellular phones, smartphones, GSM phones,tablet PCs, laptop computers, computers, televisions, PDAs, cable boxes,portable media players, and gaming consoles.

In an embodiment of the present invention, server 105 communicates withthe first device 101 and a second device 102 to receive useridentifications. The user identifications are communicated throughcommunication signal 103 and communication signal 104 to the server 105.The server 105 then communicates the first user identifications 107 andsecond user identifications 108 through communication signal 109 toreceipt database 110. Upon receipt at the receipt database 110, thereceipt database 110 identifies based on a predetermined number ofreceipts that the first user identifications 107 and second useridentifications 108 are associated with the same user. In embodiments,user identifications may be a hashed email address, a log-in, ausername, data provider identification, a matchkey, a carrieridentification, or an Internet protocol. Hashing data or applying anencryption may provide anonymity to the user and their correspondingdata.

FIG. 2 depicts a flowchart illustrating the steps identifying a userthrough user identifications based on receipt of those useridentifications a predetermined number of times. The processing step 200starts with step 201 by receiving at a data management platform aplurality of first user identifications associated with a firstcommunication device accessed by a first user, wherein the datamanagement platform includes data relating to the first user. Step 202involves receiving at the data management platform a plurality of seconduser identifications associated with a second communication deviceaccessed by a second user. Step 203 involves determining at the datamanagement platform via a predetermined number of the plurality ofreceipts of the first and second user identifications that the firstuser accessing the first communication device is the second useraccessing the second communication device.

By definition, the blurring of the lines between traditional broadcasttelevision and online multimedia content due to consumers owning morethan one device with a screen is known as cross-screen capability. Thedemand for converged cross-screen services and high quality resultantexperiences is growing. Consumers want a flexible viewing experience inwhich personalized content, such as live sports, recorded televisionprograms, on-demand movies, and social media experiences, goes whereverthey go and can be shifted from device to device.

As users turn to multiple devices in a cross-screen setting, theyincrease their viewing histories and geographic location. In turn, theselead to increased data about users and increased ways to targetadvertisements to them. With a single user accessing so many devices andtraveling to various locations with those devices, data received aboutthe user may appear inaccurate at the onset. It is necessary to qualifyand quantify the data received so that a relevant ad may be targeted tothe user (e.g., that the intended user is being reached).

Qualifying and quantifying the data may be accomplished through a datamanagement platform. The platform can answer who the user is and whatelse is known about the user. Such data may be provided to or from apublisher or first party data provider, or the platform may correlatethird party data to a publisher or an advertiser. For example, carrierinformation may be combined with information from a third party providerto determine more about a user.

Combing user identifications (hereinafter, “user IDs”) also calculatesthe quality of data. Multiple validations may be required when thefrequency of a user ID appears. For example, when a given user ID from ahashed email appears together with another user ID from a new device,there is a minimum threshold of appearances the two user IDs must makein order to indicate the user is the same user each time. For example,the threshold may be three appearances together. The higher the numberof appearances, the more likely it is that the user is the same.

In embodiments, the minimum threshold of appearance the user IDs mustmake are communicated through communication signal 103 and communicationsignal 104 to the server 105. The server 105 then communicates the userIDs through communication signal 109 to receipt database 110. Uponreceipt at the receipt database 110, the receipt database 110 recordseach user ID appearance. When the user IDs have been recorded andreached the minimum number of receipts, the receipt database 110determines that the user IDs are associated with the same user.

Often the predetermined number of receipts, or minimum threshold, isseeing the two user IDs three times. The minimum threshold may varydepending on whether the user IDs are a hashed email address, a log-in,a username, data provider identification, a matchkey, a carrieridentification, or an Internet protocol. For example, a log-in providedby a user may have to appear three times, whereas another ID may have toappear at least five times since if it is not provided by the user.

Such user IDs and receipt databases are the basis for Per-ID typedetection logic. The user IDs must be seen with other valid user IDs,and a group of IDs indicating the same user becomes known as a family ofuser IDs. For example, if identification ABC is seen with identificationDEF, the family may become ABCDEF.

User IDs and families of user IDs are assigned expiration dates. Theuser IDs assigned and the number of appearances are only valid for a setamount of time. Upon expiration, the user ID may be assigned to a newuser. For example, if User A is assigned ABC, and the expiration is tendays, User B may be assigned ABC on the eleventh day.

The receipt database may adhere to compliance regulations (disclosure ofcollected data, use, opt-out, etc.). It may store a hashed version ofthe user ID so no user is stored with a user profile. In addition,opt-out preferences are stored with the user profile.

Multiple user IDs may be received from a single device. For example,User A may use the device, and then loan the device to User B. User A isassigned IDs based on his user browsing and history. User B is assigneddifferent IDs based on his user browsing and history. The receiptdatabase may identify which user is currently accessing the device basedon the appearances of User A and User B in the database.

Because multiple IDs can exist on a single device, the platform may alsoexhibit a system to know when to validate and when to invalidate IDs.For example, if User A loans his device to User B and user B onlyaccesses one webpage, his assigned user ID will only make oneappearance. Without other appearances, the receipt database willinvalidate User B's user ID from User A's device.

Multiple IDs from multiple sources may be validated as correctlyrelating to a single, unique user based at least in part on the use of amatchkey, co-registration, user demographic data, device hardwareidentifiers (e.g., a hardware ID of a mobile communication facility),intra-application key matches (e.g., a video game), intra-platform keymatches (e.g., Facebook), unique phone number, geographic location(“geolocation”), customer identifier, language, device characteristic,transaction data, credit card number, or based on some other identifier.The term matchkey refers to a functionality that may compriseverification of data provided by a consumer such as name, address, phonenumber, credit card number to be matched with a set of data available ina database. In one aspect, a system may be provided that allows aconsumer to enter a data string that the system may match with dataavailable in a database, such as data derived from a prior interactionwith the customer. In another aspect, a vendor may maintain a databasethat includes matchkeys defining characteristics of customers to whomthe vendor has previously provided and/or sold services. The system mayprovide a matching engine that compares characteristics of a consumerwith the matchkeys in the vendor database. In case a matchkey alreadyexists in the vendor database, an assigned step may occur. For example,a customer with user data matching an existing matchkey in a databasemay result in any new user data collected on this user being aggregatedwith prior user data collected. In another embodiment, a customer withuser data matching an existing matchkey in a database may result in adiscount being offered to the customer, or some other activityinitiated. In embodiments, a co-registration process may be used tocreate a pseudo matchkey. For example, user profile attributes may becollected when consumer requests information regarding a product,completes a survey and/or some other type of form, such as may be foundon a website (or application) or within a product catalog. From the datacollected during the co-registration process, uniqueidentifiers/characteristics may be used to create a matchkey that may beused to aggregate user profile data, from multiple data sources,relating to the user. This aggregated user profile data may then be usedfor targeting of sponsored content to the user, or other uses.

Multiple IDs may also arise from third party data providers. Third partydata providers may include public databases, subscription databases,freeware databases, purchased databases, etc. Public databases mayinclude census data, voter registration, real estate assessment data,public registry, vehicle registry, court records, and the like. Thereare many sources of public and private information that may be relevantto targeted data use. Subscription and/or purchased, private databasesmay include a wide variety of internet access analytics and clickstreamanalytics data including normalized, aggregated, regional, and the like.In an example of third party data use in association with behavioraldata, the server may receive a request for behavioral data of users inthe Boston area who have recently used their mobile communicationfacility to search for information about mortgage financing orrefinancing. A monetization platform may access third party data relatedto home sales and/or refinance activity, such as from local registry ofdeeds databases. By combining the third party information with thebehavioral information, users who have recently refinanced or recentlypurchased a home may be identified within the behavioral data. Themonetization platform may deliver behavioral data that may includeintegrated third party data in order to provide a more comprehensive setof behavioral data.

As described above, a financial consideration may be based on anavailability of relevant third party data. In this example, due to therelevant third party data, the monetization platform may offer a versionof the behavioral data without the third party data for one financialconsideration and offer an integrated version for another (potentiallygreater) financial consideration.

Third party data that may be obtained from one or more third parties maybe associated with the retrieved user's behavioral profile. The thirdparty data may be sourced from one or more data sources including censusdata, environmental data, voter registration data, education data,salary survey data, home value data, town tax records, and the like.

Third party data may be provided by a credit card provider. A creditcard information request may be an implicit query, an active query, adisambiguation action, a retrieval function, a filtering function, apresentation function, a routing function, or another function or actionrelating to the initiation, processing, or completion of a search. Thecredit card information may be obtained from a database of mobilesubscriber characteristics or from a credit card provider. Theinformation may include information relating to current balances, creditlimits, or the like. For example, an implicit query may present resultsbased on the available credit balance for a user, such as presentingsearches or results for expensive goods for a user who has a low balanceand high credit limit, while presenting searches or results forfinancial counselors for users who have high balances and low creditlimits.

Third party data may be provided by a supermarket or pharmacy.Supermarket or pharmacy information related to a user may be obtainedfrom a database of mobile subscriber characteristics or from asupermarket or pharmacy loyalty program or reward card program.Supermarket and pharmacy shoppers, as well as other retail shoppers, maybe provided incentives to participate and provide personal informationthat may be used by the system, including but not limited to cash backincentives, discounts, coupons, loyalty programs, or some other type ofincentive. For example, the use of reward card may indicate thefrequency of a shopper's visits to a particular retailer. The thirdparty data may include information relating to brand loyalty, couponuse, or what type of shopper the user is (e.g., “bargain” or “sale”shopper). For example, an information request may present results basedon whether the shopper is brand or generic prescription shopper, whichmay then assist in selecting an appropriate advertisement.

Third party data may be provided by a mail order catalog retailer. Mailorder catalog information related to a user may be obtained from adatabase of mobile subscriber characteristics or from the mail ordercatalog retailer itself. For example, a chef may be categorized as an“amateur” or “professional chef,” and the like on the basis of priorbehaviors such as purchasing certain kitchen equipment from a mail ordercatalog.

Third party data may be provided by a cable or settop box provider.Television information related to a user may be obtained from a databaseof mobile subscriber characteristics or from the cable or settop boxprovider. For example, an information request may present results basedon whether the shopper is a brand or generic prescription shopper, whichmay then assist in selecting an appropriate advertisement. For example,the chef described above may be categorized as an “Italian chef,” inaddition to “amateur” or “professional chef,” on the basis of priorbehaviors such as watching Italian cooking television programming.

Third party data may be provided by consumer healthcare databases.Although a data platform or server may actively exclude content from‘sensitive’ categories, such as raw data relating to medical or healthinformation, a healthcare database may operate at a zip code level. Forexample, an information request may present results on the number ofbike-related injuries reported within a zip code.

Third party data may be provided by referring URLs. A referring URL maycollect browse activity of a user. For example, it has the ability toanalyze browse traffic to understand the content and nature of pagesbeing visited.

User ID combining may include accepting user IDs into the receiptdatabase in both real-time and batch. The receipt database may be ableto integrate user IDs from any source. The sources may include searchstreams, ad interactions, browse activity, wireless carriers, and otherthird party data. Such user IDs may provide insight into general userinterest over time and illuminate immediate and evolving user needs. Thecombining of user IDs may identify longer term and real time interestswhich may provide time-sensitive targeting opportunities. An example maybe as follows: a user ID reaches the minimum threshold of appearancesfrom a particular location. If the location is identified as arestaurant, the targeting opportunities for other local restaurantsrelevant to the user associated with the user ID is limited to thewindow of real-time associated with the meal. If received in batches,the window of time associated with the user ID may be longer.

Validating data may also include bridging from other ad networks tounderstand what type of environment the device is in (such as work,home, or outdoors). The platform may correlate environment with the userback to an ad network. For example, a user may receive advertisementssuitable for one of those environments (such as receiving work-relatedinformation while at work and consumer information while at home). Ifthe user is far from home and work, then the user may receiveadvertisements that are pertinent to travel in the location where theuser is located, such as hotel, car rental, and restaurant information.

In embodiments, the server 105 then communicates the first useridentifications 107 and second user identifications 108 throughcommunication signal 109 to receipt database 110. The first useridentifications 107 and second user identifications 108 includegeography associated with the same user.

Determining what environment the device is in is primarily based ongeography. The geographic coordinates may be determined through GPS,triangulation, and or WiFi triangulation. The geography may also bedetermined by a user-entered location or a plurality of locations, suchas geographic regions including one or more states, or one or morecities.

Determining what environment the device is in may also be determined bytime of day. A geography may be associated with the time of day at whichthe geography was obtained. For example, if user IDs make a minimumnumber of appearances from a non-mobile device at 11:00 AM at a givengeography, it is likely the geography is a work environment. If user IDsmake a minimum number of appearances from a mobile device at 7:00 at agiven geography, it is likely the geography is a home or socialenvironment.

In embodiments, the first user identifications 107 and second useridentifications 108 are transmitted through communication signal 109 toreceipt database 110. The first user identifications 107 and second useridentifications 108 may be delivered to an outside entity. Outsideentities which may purchase or bid for such user identifications includea carriers, webpage publishers, application providers, advertisers, adnetworks, ad servers, and data providers.

When user IDs have been validated, such information may be valuable toadvertisers. In embodiments, an ad interaction as a source may includecollecting data about a given user's interaction with advertising. Thead interaction data may allow the system to expand the knowledge of auser to include consideration for the type of advertising they are mostlikely to respond to. The information may be analyzed and provided as anelement within the summarized user profile. An example may be asfollows: a user ID is received with an advertisement source, context ofthe ad, and ad type. Examples of an advertisement source may be aprimary ad server. A context may be where the ad was displayed, andexamples of context may be a sports portal, a third party site and thelike. An ad type may be details of the ad. Examples of ad details may betext, static graphic, interactive, and the like.

The user ID may also include a trigger and ad success with theinteraction data. The trigger is what the ad was served in response to.Examples of a trigger may be search, context, behavior, demographics andthe like. An ad interaction may describe the ad success. Examples of anad success may be click, conversion and the like.

When user IDs have been validated, such information may be valuable toadvertisers. Specifically, a server may indicate that an ad wasdelivered to a particular user associated with the user IDs. Count-ondownload techniques validate whether an ad was delivered. Count-ondownload functionality helps in reducing the discrepancies and providingclients with more accurate numbers for inventory, forecasting, anddelivery. It facilitates the ability to count the ad impressions whenthe advertisement gets fully executed or downloaded to a user's device.For example, when a user is selected to receive an ad, count-on downloadindicates when the ad has been received. Count-on download is relevantfor third-party ad servers. The discrepancies that surface aftercomparing reports from third-party ad servers are reduced based on thead-tags that count-on download attaches to an ad. It may be importantthat all relevant information regarding an ad campaign and the adsthemselves is collected to ensure accurate reports and inventory. Theneed of matching and comparing requested creative delivery to actualverified delivery is taken care of by this functionality. Count-ondownload functionality also facilitates frequency capping and deliverygoals to be set on the verified delivery. This means that when enteringthe frequency settings, the definition of impressions for theadvertisements set for verification are actually only those verified andnot those requested.

If the selected advertisement is an image, the delivery engine returnsan ad-tag as the response to the initial ad request, where the ad-tagincludes the following:

%%SERVER%% Server's host name %%PAGE%% OAS pageURL %%RAND%% Cachebusting random number %%POS%% Position Name %%CAMP%% CampaignID%%IMAGE%% Creative file name %%USER%% User identifier %%DIM%% CreativedimensionCounting occurs only after the delivery engine processes this request.

Other methods of determining if an ad was successfully delivered to theright user are pixel tagging and bandwidth determination. For example,in bandwidth, if a user is in a slow connection or fast connection, anad network may change what data is served. An example of pixel taggingdetermination would be if a data exchange has an Android user who ismale, but the pixel comes back as an iPhone from a female.

In embodiments, the first user identifications 107 and second useridentifications 108 are transmitted through communication signal 109 toreceipt database 110. The first user identifications 107 and second useridentifications 108 may be delivered to an outside entity via a biddingplatform.

A network or platform may rank user IDs to determine validity. Rankingmay be based on data points as opposed to ranking based on the dataprovider and can validate the quality of third party data. The rankingsof user IDs may be combined in a variety of ways, or weighted based onthe data provider. For example, a third party retail data provider maybe ranked higher than a consumer health database provider, based on thesensitivity of the data. Such ranking may be used for bidding purposes,but also may be used from a supply side platform. Supply side platformsinclude receipt databases.

A bidding platform may be associated with the receipt database 110and/or a monetization platform. The bidding platform may be includedwithin the monetization platform. The receipt database may propose asfinancial consideration a portion of revenue from bidding to be providedto the monetization platform. The ad server may provide a request forverified user IDs to the monetization platform and in response to therequest, the monetization platform may identify minimum bids for theuser IDs. The minimum bids may be associated with various aspects of theuser IDs. For example, minimum bids may be established for user IDsassociated with a tablet device. Based on the results of bidding for therequested user IDs, the monetization platform may provide one or moredeliveries of the user IDs to the ad server.

Automated media planning techniques may fulfill ads efficiently to validuser IDs. An automated media planning system is a reservation systembased on supply and demand. Automated media planning allows advertisersto determine the sites that will generate the best return on investmentfor their ad campaigns. Rather than running their ad campaigns on thegeneric run-of-network content channels that are provided by many adnetworks, the use of automated media planning permits advertisers tocreate customized advertising channels based on their contextual,geographic, demographic and performance preferences. It allowsadvertisers to automatically allocate their advertising budget acrossall the sites in their media plan. Each budget allocation is calculatedbased on several performance factors that include reach, click-throughrates, price, relevancy and ratings. Advertisers can manually editindividual allocations if they choose. For example, an advertiser mayallocate more funding to a more popular ad based on currentclick-through rates.

The difference between a real-time bid and an automated media plan isthere is no negotiating. It is matching supply and demand based on acampaign, not an impression. It may be equated to a financial marketreserving a block of inventory in a commodities market.

Opening mobile inventory to existing exchanges may bring visibility intocurrent pricing. Combing the opening of mobile inventory with anautomated media plan may be based on a future event or holiday, forexample. It may function well in a market where there is scarcity. Itmay permit cross-screen inventory to operate at a premium, which is alsoknown as high frequency trading.

Internet Protocol (hereinafter, “IP”) targeting is for device agnostictargeting. It requires a private setting, not commercial wirelessaccess; axis frequency, which refers to the number of requests; and thenumber of devices to user agents. These requirements may determine ifthe data is homogenous. An ad network may attach data to IP targeting,wherein individual data is reflected back to the IP target.Out-of-network users are unidentifiable at this user level.

An ad network may decide what data to reflect back to the IP tag.Lifestyle and life stage data is very portable back to an IP tag. Tomanage this reflection, such data may have to reach a relevancy score tobe considered valid with the IP tag.

To further target users constantly changing devices and locations, hypertargeting may be utilized. Hyper targeting refers to the ability todeliver advertising content to specific interest-based segments in anetwork. Hyper targeting is also the ability on social network sites totarget ads based on very specific criteria. Advertisers are offered theoption to direct their ads to subcategories self-identified by users intheir profiles including music, sports, and movies. For example, ratherthan simply targeting movie lovers, advertisers could send ads based onthe preferred genres like horror, romance, or comedy. The general fieldof hyper targeting draws information from three sources: registration,basic data gathered when users register for site access (e.g., age,gender); profile, detailed content completed by active users (e.g.favorite movies, activities, brands); and behavioral history, datagathered from online activities like sites visited, purchases made,groups joined, etc.

Hyper targeting may be expanded to hyper-local targeting. Hyper localtargeting and retargeting may pull ad inventory together, create asaleable audience, and may reconcile with behavioral retargeting. Thisis a contextual analysis of a geographic location, in which a networkmay infer qualities about a new user who is at those particularlocations. For example, WiFi coordinates assist in hyper-localtargeting. The following examples and devices may be used in conjunctionwith hyper-local targeting and retargeting: tiles for geographiclocations as opposed to zip-based targeting, wherein latitude andlongitude degrees indicate spaces (tiles) within a geographic location;near field communication; quick response (QR) codes; audible signalsemanated by a television; goggles and device cameras, wherein thegoggles allow user to search by taking pictures; check-in points viasocial media applications; and WiFi within a building or locationdetermined by triangulation.

Fingerprinting applications may also be used in conjunction withhyper-local targeting. For example, a user has a device in use before amovie begins in a movie theatre. During the pre-show viewing, the devicemay fingerprint the user's location based on the audio from the pre-showadvertisements and trailers.

Games and social media may also provide new targeting parameters. Suchapplications may determine demographics about a user based on friends orother users within an application. For example, the words played inWords with Friends may provide new contextual targeting to any of theparticipants in the game.

Adaptive advertising may create hyper targeted campaigns. It maylocalize media by geography, serve the right ad at the right time on theright day, deliver the right ad to each audience, and provide detailedreporting and real time engagement analysis. Adaptive advertising mayincorporate rich media.

Other hyper targeted campaigns to users on multiple devices include acustomized “Sunday circular.” A circular integrates targeting and dataoverlays, as well as demographics and geographic locations. Thecirculars may contain related products and has the ability to show anunlimited number of products. For example, the primary grocery shopperin a household will receive a different circular than other members ofthe same household.

Another way of hyper targeting is through a beacon. A beacon is feedbackprovided directly by the user. It indicates how a user responds to anad, and correspondingly sends data based on cursor position within thead. It may also use eye tracking to see where the user's eyes are on thepage or ad, and use facial recognition to tell the user's emotionalreaction to the page or ad, such as happy, sad, or scared. A beacon mayalso access the accelerometer in a device to tell whether or not theuser looked at the ad. For example, it may indicate whether a userresponded with a smile to a humorous ad.

A facial recognition algorithm scans the image and detects curves,points, wrinkles and contours and infers the 3D shape of a face. Thisway, any pose angle in future photos can be accommodated as the 3D modelcan simply be rotated to the same angle as the original photo forcomparison purposes.

The methods and systems described herein may be deployed in part or inwhole through a machine that executes computer software program codes,and/or instructions on one or more processors. The one or moreprocessors may be part of a server, client, network infrastructure,mobile computing platform, stationary computing platform, cloudcomputing, or other computing platform. The processor(s) may becommunicatively connected to the Internet or any other distributedcommunications network via a wired or wireless interface. Theprocessor(s) may be any kind of computational or processing devicecapable of executing program instructions, codes, binary instructionsand the like. The processor(s) may be or include a signal processor,digital processor, embedded processor, microprocessor or any variantsuch as a co-processor (math co-processor, graphic co-processor,communication co-processor and the like) and the like that may directlyor indirectly facilitate execution of program code or programinstructions stored thereon. In addition, the processor(s) may enableexecution of multiple programs, threads, and codes. The threads may beexecuted simultaneously to enhance the performance of the processor(s)and to facilitate simultaneous operations of the application. Theprocessor(s) may include memory that stores methods, codes, instructionsand programs as described herein and elsewhere. The processor(s) mayaccess a storage medium through an interface that may store methods,codes, and instructions as described herein and elsewhere. The storagemedium associated with the processor(s) for storing methods, programs,codes, program instructions or other type of instructions capable ofbeing executed by the computing or processing device may include but maynot be limited to one or more of a CD-ROM, DVD, memory, hard disk, flashdrive, RAM, ROM, cache and the like.

The methods and/or processes described above, and steps thereof, may berealized in hardware, software or any combination of hardware andsoftware suitable for a particular application. The hardware may includea general purpose computer and/or dedicated computing device or specificcomputing device or particular aspect or component of a specificcomputing device. The processes may be realized in one or moremicroprocessors, microcontrollers, embedded microcontrollers,programmable digital signal processors or other programmable device,along with internal and/or external memory. The processes may also, orinstead, be embodied in an application specific integrated circuit, aprogrammable gate array, programmable array logic, or any other deviceor combination of devices that may be configured to process electronicsignals. It will further be appreciated that one or more of theprocesses may be realized as a computer executable code capable of beingexecuted on a machine readable medium.

The computer executable code may be created using a structuredprogramming language such as C, an object-oriented programming languagesuch as C++, or any other high-level or low-level programming language(including assembly languages, hardware description languages, anddatabase programming languages and technologies) that may be stored,compiled or interpreted to run on one of the above devices, as well asheterogeneous combinations of processors, processor architectures, orcombinations of different hardware and software, or any other machinecapable of executing program instructions.

Thus, in one aspect, each method described above and combinationsthereof may be embodied in computer executable code that, when executingon one or more computing devices, performs the steps thereof In anotheraspect, the methods may be embodied in systems that perform the stepsthereof, and may be distributed across devices in a number of ways, orall of the functionality may be integrated into a dedicated, standalonedevice or other hardware. In another aspect, the means for performingthe steps associated with the processes described above may include anyof the hardware and/or software described above. All such permutationsand combinations are intended to fall within the scope of the presentdisclosure.

Further, although process steps, method steps, algorithms or the likemay be described in a sequential order, such processes, methods andalgorithms may be configured to work in alternate orders. In otherwords, any sequence or order of steps that may be described in thispatent application does not, in and of itself, indicate a requirementthat the steps be performed in that order. The steps of processesdescribed herein may be performed in any order practical. Further, somesteps may be performed simultaneously despite being described or impliedas occurring non-simultaneously (e.g., because one step is describedafter the other step). Moreover, the illustration of a process by itsdepiction in a drawing does not imply that the illustrated process isexclusive of other variations and modifications thereto, does not implythat the illustrated process or any of its steps are necessary to theinvention, and does not imply that the illustrated process is preferred.

It will be readily apparent that the various methods and algorithmsdescribed herein may be implemented by, e.g., appropriately programmedgeneral purpose computers and computing devices. Typically a processor(e.g., a microprocessor) will receive instructions from a memory or likedevice, and execute those instructions, thereby performing a processdefined by those instructions. Further, programs that implement suchmethods and algorithms may be stored and transmitted using a variety ofknown media. When a single device or article is described herein, itwill be readily apparent that more than one device/article (whether ornot they cooperate) may be used in place of a single device/article.Similarly, where more than one device or article is described herein(whether or not they cooperate), it will be readily apparent that asingle device/article may be used in place of the more than one deviceor article. The functionality and/or the features of a device may bealternatively embodied by one or more other devices which are notexplicitly described as having such functionality/features. Thus, otherembodiments of the present invention need not include the device itself.

The term “computer-readable medium” as used herein refers to any mediumthat participates in providing data (e.g., instructions) that may beread by a computer, a processor or a like device. Such a medium may takemany forms, including but not limited to, non-volatile media, volatilemedia, and transmission media. Non-volatile media include, for example,optical or magnetic disks and other persistent memory. Volatile mediainclude dynamic random access memory (DRAM), which typically constitutesthe main memory. Transmission media include coaxial cables, copper wireand fiber optics, including the wires that comprise a system bus coupledto the processor. Transmission media may include or convey acousticwaves, light waves and electromagnetic emissions, such as thosegenerated during radio frequency (RF) and infrared (IR) datacommunications. Common forms of computer-readable media include, forexample, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, anyother magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, DVD, any other optical medium, punchcards, paper tape, any other physical medium with patterns of holes, aRAM, a PROM, an EPROM, a FLASH-EEPROM, any other memory chip orcartridge, a carrier wave as described hereinafter, or any other mediumfrom which a computer can read. Various forms of computer readable mediamay be involved in carrying sequences of instructions to a processor.For example, sequences of instruction (i) may be delivered from RAM to aprocessor, (ii) may be carried over a wireless transmission medium,and/or (iii) may be formatted according to numerous formats, standardsor protocols, such as Bluetooth, TDMA, CDMA, 3G, LTE, WiMax. Anon-transitory computer-readable medium includes all computer-readablemedium as is currently known or will be known in the art, includingregister memory, processor cache, and RAM (and all iterations andvariants thereof), with the sole exception being a transitory,propagating signal.

Where databases are described, it will be understood by one of ordinaryskill in the art that (i) alternative database structures to thosedescribed may be readily employed, and (ii) other memory structuresbesides databases may be readily employed. Any schematic illustrationsand accompanying descriptions of any sample databases presented hereinare illustrative arrangements for stored representations of information.Any number of other arrangements may be employed besides those suggestedby the tables shown. Similarly, any illustrated entries of the databasesrepresent exemplary information only; those skilled in the art willunderstand that the number and content of the entries can be differentfrom those illustrated herein. Further, despite any depiction of thedatabases as tables, other formats (including relational databases,object-based models and/or distributed databases) could be used to storeand manipulate the data types described herein. Likewise, object methodsor behaviors of a database can be used to implement the processes of thepresent invention. In addition, the described databases may, in a knownmanner, be stored locally or remotely from a device that accesses datain such a database.

Numerous embodiments are described in this patent application, and arepresented for illustrative purposes only. The described embodiments arenot intended to be limiting in any sense. The invention is widelyapplicable to numerous embodiments, as is readily apparent from thedisclosure herein. Those skilled in the art will recognize that thepresent invention may be practiced with various modifications andalterations. Although particular features of the present invention maybe described with reference to one or more particular embodiments orfigures, it should be understood that such features are not limited tousage in the one or more particular embodiments or figures withreference to which they are described.

In the foregoing description, reference is made to the accompanyingdrawings that form a part of the present disclosure, and in which areshown, by way of illustration, specific embodiments of the invention.These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable thoseskilled in the art to practice the invention, and it is to be understoodthat other embodiments may be utilized and that structural, logical,software, electrical and other changes may be made without departingfrom the scope of the present invention. The present disclosure is,therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense. The present disclosureis neither a literal description of all embodiments of the invention nora listing of features of the invention that must be present in allembodiments.

Although the invention has been described in detail for the purpose ofillustration based on what is currently considered to be the mostpractical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that suchdetail is solely for that purpose and that the invention is not limitedto the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to covermodifications and equivalent arrangements that are within the spirit andscope of the appended claims. For example, it is to be understood thatthe present invention contemplates that, to the extent possible, one ormore features of any embodiment can be combined with one or morefeatures of any other embodiment.

What is claimed:
 1. A system for validating user identifications, thesystem comprising one or more computers having computer readable mediumshaving stored thereon instructions which, when executed by one or moreprocessors of the one or more computers, causes the system to performthe steps of: (a) receiving at a data management platform a plurality offirst user identifications associated with a first communication deviceaccessed by a first user, wherein the data management platform includesdata relating to the first user; (b) receiving at the data managementplatform a plurality of second user identifications associated with asecond communication device accessed by a second user; and (c)determining at the data management platform via a predetermined numberof the plurality of receipts of the first and second useridentifications that the first user accessing the first communicationdevice is the second user accessing the second communication device. 2.The system of claim 1, wherein the first or second user identificationis received from: (a) a carrier providing service to the first andsecond communication devices; (b) a webpage publisher; (c) anapplication provider; (d) a user log-in; or (e) a third party.
 3. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the first or second user identification is atleast: (a) a hashed email address; (b) a log-in; (c) a username; (d) adata provider identification; (e) a matchkey; (f) a carrieridentification; or (g) an Internet protocol.
 4. The system of claim 1,wherein the system is further configured to perform the step oftransmitting an advertising content to the second communication device,wherein selection of the advertising content is based at least on arelevancy thereof to the plurality of first user identifications.
 5. Thesystem of claim 4, wherein the relevancy is further based on a usercharacteristic datum associated with the user.
 6. They system of claim5, wherein the user characteristic datum is selected from the listconsisting of: (a) age, age-range, or birthdate; (b) gender; (c) race;(d) religion; (e) marital status; (f) area code of the phone numberassigned to one of the first and second communication devices; (g) zipcode; (h) home address; (i) work address; (j) billing address; (k) typeof credit card used to pay a carrier providing service to thecommunication device; (l) birthplace; (m) employer; (n) employmentposition; (o) income bracket of the user; (p) model of one of the firstand second communication devices; and (q) operating system of one of thefirst and second communication devices.
 7. The system of claim 5,wherein the user characteristic datum is selected from the listconsisting of: (a) payment and billing history associated with the user;(b) the duration of online interactions by the user via one of the firstand second communication devices; (c) the number of online interactionsby the user via one of the first and second communication devices; (d)usage patterns of the one of the first and second communication devicesdependent on location or time of day use thereof; (e) type of contentaccessed by the user via one of the first and second communicationdevices; (f) previous search queries entered by the user via one of thefirst and second communication devices; (g) shopping habits associatedwith the users; (h) videos, music, or audio listened to or downloaded bythe user via one of the first and second communication devices; (i)previous geographies associated with the user; and (j) webpages visitedor applications used by the user via one of the first and secondcommunication devices.
 8. The system of claim 7, wherein the shoppinghabits are one or more of: (a) products viewed or purchased on one ofthe first and second communication devices; (b) purchase amounts of theproducts purchased on one of the first and second communication devices;(c) purchase dates of the products purchased on one of the first andsecond communication devices; and (d) elapsed time between a productviewing and a product purchase on one of the first and secondcommunication devices.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein the first andsecond communication devices are one of: (a) a cellular phone; (b) atablet; (c) a portable media player; (d) a laptop or notebook computer;(e) television; (f) a cable box; and (g) a personal computer.